Cinch buckle

ABSTRACT

A cinch buckle is provided which includes a ring and a tongue. The ring is characterized by a body having a uniformly oblongish cross-sectional area defining a channel radially extending into a portion of the body. The tongue is pivotably mounted in the channel in a manner as to be free of projections outside the confines of the channel toward the face of the ring which is in contact with the horse&#39;&#39;s skin, thereby preventing any portion of the tongue from rubbing against the belly of the horse.

United States Patent [191 Krueger 1 CINCH BUCKLE [76] Inventor: Carl M. Krueger, 1708 Duke Ave., Austin, Tex. 78757 [22] Filed: July 25, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 274,959

[52] US. Cl. 24/188, 24/178 R, 24/191 [51] Int. Cl A44b 11/24 [58] Field of Search 24/188, 178 R, 191, 180, 24/74 [56] References Cited 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,989,016 1/1935 Mix 24/178 R 1,389,948 9/1921 Kerngood 24/188 784,810 3/1905 Sheldon 24/178 R 800,706

10/1905 Anderson 24/178 R [451 Apr. 23, 1974 859,855 7/1907 Sweeten 24/178 R Primary Examiner-Francis K. Zugel Assistant Examiner--Darre1l Marquette Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Michael P. Breston [57] ABSTRACT A cinch buckle is provided which includes a ring and a tongue. The ring is characterized by a body having a uniformly oblongish cross-sectional area defining a channel radially extending into a portion of the body. The tongue is pivotably mounted in the channel in a I manner as to be free of projections outside the confines of the channel toward the face of the ring which is in contact with the horses skin, thereby preventing any portion of the tongue from rubbing against the belly of the horse.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures CINCH BUCKLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Good horsemanship requires that the saddle be cinched on the horse in as comfortable a manner as possible. Improper cinching of the saddle onto the horse may cause the horse to become saddlesore, especially on endurance and long distance trailrides. Prior art cinch buckles were characterized by a ring body and a tongue looped around a portin of the body. Such buckles suffer from at least two major drawbacks: the looped end of the tongue causes physical suffering or inflammation to the horses skin, and the buckle exerts a relatively high-pressure on the belly of the horse. In accordance with the present invention, the abovementioned and other such drawbacks are eliminated from known cinch buckles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a cinch buckle wherein the tongue is pivotably mounted in a radially-extending channel having a cross-sectional area which prevents any portion of the tongue from projecting outwardly of the buckle when in use on the horse, thereby preventing the rupturing or bruising of the horses skin. Moreover, the body of the buckles ring has a uniform cross-sectional area such that, in use, the pressure exerted by the buckle against the horse is spread over an optimally large area for a buckle of given weight and size dimensions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view in perspective of the improved buckle of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on line 2--2 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but with the buckle shown attached to a cinch.

In the drawings the same reference characters designate the same parts throughout the figures with numeral l designating a cinch buckle which comprises a ring 12, preferably characterized by a uniform, oblongish, cross-sectional area 13. The area 13 is delineated by two inclined, straight segments 14 and 16 joined by a top apical end 18 and a bottom apical end 20. Apical end 20 has a curvature which is sustained by a larger radius than that of apical end 18. The body of ring 12 is preferably made of stainless steel since it is much stronger than any readily available non-metallic material.

Extending radially from apex 20 is a channel 21 which extends sufficiently deep into the body of ring 12 as to accomodate a cross bar but yet leaves a portion 22 of the rings body intact. A bore 23 is drilled in a plane parallel to a plane tangent to point 24 in the plane of symmetry. The bore 23 extends from apical end 18 up to a point 26 on the other side of channel 21,

as shown.

A pin 30 snugly fits inside bore 23. Rotatably mounted on pin 30 is a cross bar or tongue 32. Since the pivoted end of tongue 32 pivots within the relatively-enlarged portion of the rings body, no portion of the pivoted end will project outwardly of the confines of the ring body within channel 21, as can be clearly seen from FIG. 2. Accordingly, the depth D of tongue 32 is not greater than the diameter of the arcuate segment 20.

Preferably, tongue 32 has a rectangular cross-section and the free end 36 thereof has a portion of the metal removed so as to be characterized by a planar surface 36 followed by a curved surface 42 which fits around the bottom apical end 20. The free end 36 is tapered as at 40 to facilitate its insertion through a hole 50 in the saddle strap 52 of a cinch belt, generally designated as 54. The other end 56 of cinch belt 54 has a longitudinally-extending cut, so as to allow the cinch belt to become attached to ring 12 on either side of channel 21, as shown in FIG. 3.

It will be appreciated that because of the form of cross-sectional area 13 as described, the pressure of the buckle against the belly of the horse will be exerted upon a relatively-wide area having a linear crosssection as at 14. If the cross-section of ring 12 were circular, for example, the area of contact between the buckle and the belly of the horse would be relatively limited to almost apoint contact, which could be seen from a cross-sectional view (not shown) similar to FIG. 2.

It will also be appreciated that the cinch buckle of the present invention is relatively simple and economical to manufacture and is sufficiently rugged to withstand long use and even abuse.

What I claim is:

1. A buckle for cinching a saddle on a horse, said buckle comprising:

a ring metal body having a uniformly-oblongish,

cross-sectional area characterized by two inclined straight segments joined by a top apical end and a bottom apical end thereby providing an annular flat face in contact with the belly of the horse whereby the pressure of the buckle against the belly of the horse becomes exerted upon a wide area to comfort the horse,

said body having a substantially-rectangular channel extending inwardly and radially into a portion of said body;

a pivot across said channel and extending into said body; and

a cross-bar mounted for rotation on said pivot, the

pivoted end of said bar being contained entirely within the confines of said channel thereby preventing any portion of the cross bar from rubbing against the belly of the horse. 

1. A buckle for cinching a saddle on a horse, said buckle comprising: a ring metal body having a uniformly-oblongish, cross-sectional area characterized by two inclined straight segments joined by a top apical end and a bottom apical end thereby providing an annular flat face in contact with the belly of the horse whereby the pressure of the buckle against the belly of the horse becomes exerted upon a wide area to comfort the horse, said body having a substantially-rectangular channel extending inwardly and radially into a portion of said body; a pivot across said channel and extending into said body; and a cross-bar mounted for rotation on said pivot, the pivoted end of said bar being contained entirely within the confines of said channel thereby preventing any portion of the cross bar from rubbing against the belly of the horse. 